Though I think in an extended sense the "late '80s" is about late 1986 to mid 1991 (getting progressively less '80s every year and accelerating to a weak '80s with '89-'90), I'm going to focus on the late 1986-early 1989 period. To me, the one word I could use to describe that period was melodramatic, as opposed to the cheesy/new wave mid-'80s of mid 1983-mid 1986 or so. Watch a movie like Nightmare on Elm Street 3, from 1987. The styles then were very "melodramatic": big, super-stylized floral patterns on everything, lots of makeup and excessive hairstyles (like those yuppie businesswoman cuts), overblown, florid sounding hair metal, scenes shot with lots of expressive shadowing and swelling electronic music, lots of candles and soft pastel colors everywhere, stylized set pieces, dry ice and souped-up cars everywhere, melodramatic Anita Baker-style smooth soul, etc. The late '80s could be said to be the "overproduced/melodramatic" period in mainstream pop culture...it shows from the overproduced soft rock, hair metal, and dance-pop that was big then, the super-melodramatic pastel yuppie styles, the ra-ra skirts and big hair, etc. Meanwhile, the underground culture (hip-hop, alternative rock inc. college rock, noise rock, early grunge, etc.) was totally the opposite of that from late 1986 to mid 1991, while still being quite big.

In that way, that whole late '80s epoch is very different from the new wave/John Hughes mid-'80s and even the early '80s, which were dominated by a bright, simple, flashy, not as "melodramatic" sort of aesthetic taken from the new wave music.

Yes. Also, even up to 1985 you sort of had a grungy '70s look hanging around, that by about 1986 was totally gone.

I think the Nightmare on Elm Street and Halloween movies are good examples of the progression of things. The first Halloween, made in the very early '80s, was an '80s movie, but it just looks sort of like a bland, washed-out version of the '70s with some primitive '80s influence. The first NOES was released in late 1984, and just screams new wave '80s, from the John Hughes-style high school the kids of Elm Street attend to the "little red corvette" at the end and the bright, punchy, highly patterned early MTV look that dominates the styles of the movie. In some ways, maybe the looks of things are decided by predominant musical styles. Like, when new wave was huge around 1984, everything seemed "new wave." Late 1986-mid 1989 was stylistically the hair metal/soft rock era...lots of melodrama, candles, roses, big yuppie hair, etc.

Yes, there was a sense of melodrama about the late 80s in film, music, the arts.etc. Remembering it was the height of the late 80s recession, just before the 'Echo boomer' era. I don't really remember much of 'Nightmare on Elm Street', but I remember alot of cheesy action movies from the era.

Yes, there was a sense of melodrama about the late 80s in film, music, the arts.etc. Remembering it was the height of the late 80s recession, just before the 'Echo boomer' era. I don't really remember much of 'Nightmare on Elm Street', but I remember alot of cheesy action movies from the era.


The melodrama of the late '80s mainstream culture I always thought was countered by the alt-rock/hip-hop culture that really started being substantial in 1986. It was a weird contradiction. And yes, almost forgotten comedies (Three Men and a Baby) and action films (Robocop) dominated the box office and were around in droves then.

The first Halloween, made in the very early '80s, was an '80s movie, but it just looks sort of like a bland, washed-out version of the '70s with some primitive '80s influence.

Actually, the first Halloween came out in 1978: 
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077651/

I've always thought it was late 70s all the way- Jamie Lee Cutis's hair/clothing style, the lingo used between the teenagers, etc.

Actually, the first Halloween came out in 1978: 
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077651/

I've always thought it was late 70s all the way- Jamie Lee Cutis's hair/clothing style, the lingo used between the teenagers, etc.






Sorry, my mistake!

Yeah, it was sort of late '70s. Though I think it's still an "'80s" sort of movie...like it's about teenagers, set in suburban Illinois, and goes against the baby boomer generation's "hedonism" by punishing all the hedonistic characters and awarding Jamie Lee Curtis, the virginal girl. This theme continued through the Reagan revolution in the early-mid '80s, with the societal movement towards disapproving of vice and the rewards given to the virginal teenage girl. I think of "Friday the Thirteenth", from 1980, as in some ways more '70s, because it imitates The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.